Canopy for bicycles



(No Model.)

- 0. M. SOHMID.

CANOPY FOR BIGYGLES.

No. 551,050. P5555555 D55. 10, 1895 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO M. SOHMID, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.-

CANOPY FOR BICYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,050, dated December 10, 1895.

Application filed August 16, 1895.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTTO M. SOHMID, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Canopies, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in canopies for bicycles, its object being to provide a light, cheap, simple, and eifective shelter adapted to be readily attached to or detached from a bicycle or tricycle and to be so adjusted as to shield the rider from the sun.

The invention is fully described and explained in this specification and shown-in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of abicycleframe provided with a canopy embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the canopy, showing its connection with the handle-bar of the bicycle. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of the canopy proper. Fig. 4 is a detail View illustrating the clamp by which the lower end of the canopy-support is fastened to the handlebar of the bicycle, and Fig. 5 is a top plan showing the frame folded.

In the views, A is a vertical rod, preferably of metal, having at its lower end a flattened portion a,- which lies between the upper ends of two similar clamping-jaws B B, adapted to embrace the handle-bar O of a bicycle of ordinary construction. The jaws B B are provided at their upper and lower ends with bolts and wingnuts 6 b for pressing them together, the upper end of the jaws being connected with the lower end of the rod A by one of these bolts, and the rod A being adjustable by swinging it about the bolt when the latter is loosened sufficiently to permit such movement.

The upper end of the rod A is somewhat flattened and is provided with a transverse bolt (1, having a suitable wing-nut, this bolt serving to connect with-the rod A two eyes e e, formed on the ends of a rod E, bent at its middle to form two parallel bars, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. By loosening the nut of the bolt d the rod E may evidently be swung about the bolt as a center. and its free looped Serial No. 559,476. (No modeL) end be thereby raised or lowered, as desired. Upon the double rod E are secured two parallel bars F F, supporting a canopy G, of any suitable textile fabric, the position of the bars when in use being at right angles to the rod E. The two bars are held in place by means of bolts and wing-nuts ff, and they may evidently be secured to the rod E in such relation to each other as to stretch the canopy perfectly tight.

By means of the adjustments made possible bythe clamps B B-the connection of the lower end of the rod Awith the clamps and the connection of the upper end of rod A with the rod E-the entire canopy may evidently be swung into any desired position and held securely therein. Ordinarily the canopy proper will be so adjusted as to lie either horizontally or obliquely in a plane coincident with the line of motion of the bicycle; but its free end may evidently be raised or lowered above or below its pivoted end, in which case it will to a greater or less extent act as a sail and assist in the propulsion of the machine.

When the canopy is removed from the machine, the bars F F are swung about the bolts at their centers until they reach the oblique positions shown in Fig. 5, and at the same time the rod, E is swung about the bolt d until it lies against the rod A, the free end of the rod E being substantially coincident with the clamp B, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The compass of the entire canopy and its frame is now so small that it can be placed in a cover and swung down along the head of the bicycle, its size and weight being so slight as to make it entirely unobjectionable.

The fact that the canopy can be folded without any separation of its parts and again expanded without any separation or detachment of parts is a matter of evident convenience in its use.

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination .withthe clamps, B, B, adapted to clasp the handle bar of a bicycle and rotatably adjustable thereon, of the standard, A, pivotally connected with said clamps and adjustable in the plane of the handle bar, the rod, E, E, pivotallyconnected t0 the free end of the standard and adj ustable in the plane thereof, the transverse bars, F, F, adjustably secured to the rod, E, and the canopy of textile fabric having its ends fastened to said bars, the entire structure being adjustable and adapted to be folded substantially as set forth.

OTTO M. SCHMID. lVitnesses:

FRED His, 0. 1-3. GREWIN. 

